WASHINGTON – The Bush campaign unveiled a new ad yesterday that invokes the horror of Sept. 11 and the fear felt by parents on that day of terror.

In the ad, titled “Solemn Duty,” Bush, sitting alongside wife Laura, vows to bring “justice” to terrorists – though the spot avoids using any direct footage of Ground Zero, something that drew widespread criticism last spring in a different ad.

“I can’t imagine the great agony of a mom or dad having to make the decision about which child to pick up first on Sept. the 11th,” says a casually dressed Bush, looking into the camera.

“My most solemn duty is to lead our nation to protect ourselves,” says Bush in the 30-second commercial.

“We cannot hesitate, we cannot yield, we must do everything in our power to bring back an enemy to justice before they hurt us again.”

Laura, sitting with her hands clasped in her lap, alternately looks at Bush and looks down.

John Kerry’s campaign charged that an ad invoking the terrorist attacks was proof that Bush’s reelection campaign “has reached the point of desperation” and was a sign that “Bush has lost credibility.”

“He can’t speak to a single issue voters care about: not jobs, not health care, not deficits,” said Chad Clanton, a Kerry campaign spokesman.

Despite Bush’s claim to bring justice to the killers, so far terror mastermind Osama bin Laden remains on the loose, and only one man has been charged with crimes related to 9/11 in a case that remains mired under a legal cloud.

In March, Bush’s first ads drew criticism from some relatives of victims killed that day because they included images of the destroyed World Trade Center towers and firefighters removing flag-draped remains.

A Bush ad currently airing also includes a brief image of the wreckage.